Weather at home, Port Townsend, was gusty and rainy when we left. Rain most of the way to Sol Duc. Started up Mink Lake trail at 10:00. Sky cleared with lots of sun highlighting the forest. Awed by the old timber in the first mile. Reached lake, 2 fishermen trying their luck and 2 young British lady hikers enjoying the sun and reflections. Hiked on up the trail toward Little Divide for another 1 1/2 mile before encountering large snow banks on trail. Turned around at second bridge not wanting to fight the snow. Had lunch beside side stream and were joined by several frogs hopping around right up against the snow. Orchids were out in multitudes and skunk cabbage in bloom at lake. Trail rocky but in good shape. Very little traffic evident. Few views of high peaks.

  A quick little 2 night trip around 7 lakes basin.

  Got a late start Tuesday, and got to Appleton Junction just in time to cook some dinner and set up camp before dark. I like the small campsites the park service has set up scattered along the trail in that area. Not many people around beyond Sol Duc falls.
  Wednesday I hiked up past Heart Lake and went down the Cat Basin/Cat Peak trail until it ends. It's in good shape beyond Cat Basin, although there are some stretches that are hard packed, sloping gravel/soil along very steep slopes beyond the basin. No problem in good weather, but might be crumbly in the spring. Quite a few large rocks and trees across the trail before its abrupt end (where the way trail heads up the slope for the Bailey Range).
  The High Divide Trail up to Bogachiel Peak is in decent shape, with some problem erosion. There's a patch of snow hidden in the rocks where the trail crosses the E. ridge of Bogachiel Peak, in case you need water - there's none to speak of up there (although that may change tonight). I enjoyed the sunset reflecting off the ocean from Bogachiel.
  The trail ( "little divide"?) from Deer Lake to the Mink Lake turnoff seems fairly little used, but in good shape. The trail down to Mink Lake has some serious erosion problems, and could really use some heavy-duty water bars. Much of it appears to be streambed when it rains. Mink Lake trail down to the Sol Duc has lots of (excessive?) recent cleaning of drainages.

  Saw 1 adult bear in Cat Basin, 1 adult and 1 cub on the SW slope of Bogachiel Peak. Saw 2 elk, one a magnificent bull on a rock above the trail west of Deer Lake. Lots of robins and varied thrushes about, and a number of flickers, jays, juncos, chickadess and hard-to-view brown birds in the underbrush.

  The blueberries are at their peak for color, with great reds and purples, but very few berries, and no tasty ones from any species. Not a good year for berries, I think, at least in the Olympics. Lots of other nice foliage colors, as well - mountain ash, spirea etc. Campanula is the only flower blooming at all consistently, but there were a couple patches of lupines still blooming, and paintbrush, and the last asters not looking very happy.

  No bugs to speak of.

  All in all, a great trip with spectacular fall weather, great fall color, and nice bear sightings.

My husband and I started our 6 day trip at the Bogie TH on Sunday evening. The first 8 miles were flat, easy, and smooth with just the one spot where you have to use the rope to scramble up an old washout. Lots of berries and bugs. We camped on the riverbed the first night where there is a go-around a blow down. You just follow the flags along the river bed a short ways and hop back up onto the trail. I can't remember where exactly, but there was a hornets nest just off the trail nestled in among the roots of a tree on the first day. Just be cautious where you place your trekking poles.

Second day, things got a little more mucky and shrubby. Inbetween 15 mile shelter and Hyak, the salmonberries have overtaken the trail. This should be solved in a couple of days per Ranger Stu whom informed us that a crew will be in in a couple of days to clean things up a bit. Also, somewhere between Flapjack and Spawner Creek, there is a hornets nest RIGHT on the edge of the trail! Someone marked it from the west side with lichen and a piece of paper saying "BEES!" with a stick holding it down on the trail (Bless you!) so we were prepared. The washout at Spawner Creek is a mess right now. Once you cross the creek, DON'T follow the trail up. Follow the edge of the river bed and cross the mouth of the washout. There will be a couple of small cairns and an orange tag to show you where to scramble up the hill back up. Once up on flat ground, just head thru the woods towards the trail. There is no such marking if you are going west, or if there is, we couldn't find it. Hopefully, this will be fixed soon.

Flapjack Camp still is a very nice camping spot, 15 mile is small, dingy, and you have to camp practically on the trail, but Hyak is very nice. It has two old fallen & falling down privies that I hope don't end up being huge holes in the ground when they rot away. Be careful of animal holes in the meadow.

Third day we stayed put until noon, giving my feet a break. More salmonberries to fight, marshy muck to plod thru, and route finding. This trail is proving its worth as a slight challenge, nevermind that we have seen no one since we hit the Park boundary two miles in. We get to see a bear that we startle out of the berry bushes, it heading up a hill to our right, only pausing in its flight to take a quick glance back at us. Very, very cool! It took us over three hours to go three miles, but we got to 21 Mile shelter still with energy, but we didn't have our reservation for Deer Lake until the following night and didn't know about any other camp spots or water after 21 Mile. There are a couple different spots to pitch a tent at 21 Mile. One right next to where the shelter has fallen down, and a decent spot a few yards up to the left. There is a spot there in front of a nurse log and a smaller, more private spot behind that.

The fourth day we headed up early, hoping to make the elevation before the temps rose. There is a cairn at a water source which we took to mean that this is the last good water source before Deer Lake. We had heard of the lack of water at this part of the trail, so we had filled up our bottles and carried extra from a creek just down from that. It is good to know that it is marked, though. We also found a camp just a ways up from the last water source and a little off the trail. Looks to be a camp frequented by work crews as there was split wood and an old rotting pair of work gloves. There is a creek bed behind that where a seasonal creek may run, but it was dry today.

We kept heading up and popped out at the Little Divide. Wow! Just...wow! Major flower show going on and the views were awesome. The snow is all gone and the trail is in great condition. The trip to Deer Lake was uneventful, but all the flowers out made it a slow trip for all my photo taking and just enjoying the sights. Getting into Deer Lake, Ranger Kevin recommended Camp Site#6, which was one we were hoping to get. It was still empty and we set up camp in one of the most private spots. There was a huge meadow behind us and no noise from other groups could reach us. Ranger Kevin aslo mentioned that we has just missed a huge herd of goats that had come thru. Probably a good thing...Fish looked to be plentiful and hungry. Maybe good fishing here?

Fifth day, we left the tent and just took our essential gear to day hike to Bogie Peak. Plenty of views and flowers!! Lot of exposure here and I was glad to have brought extra sunscreen. We carried extra water, though there was a few spots from snow melt we could have gotten water. Better safe than sorry. There was only a itty bit of snow on the trail and it is probably gone by today. The trail is perfect and swift. We did chose to climb Bogie Peak via a trail that was not marked and was a bit hand over hand scrambling to get up. Nothing major, but we came down the actual marked path which we would have found if we had gone around the Peak and came in from the other side. Much, much easier. The views here were worth the work, though. I had never seen the 7 Lake Basin before and to be able to turn around and see the Hoh Valley and the top of all the mountains was extremely breathtaking.

On the last day, we headed out to Sol Duc TH. Down hill all the way, Canyon Creek has 3 marked camp sites along the trail. Not sure if they are in the quota area or not, but a nice option if you come in late and can't make it to Deer Lake before dark. We opted for a nice after hike soak in the pools and a snack at the diner. They have beer and good onion rings!!

Notes: Black flies were almost worse than the skeeters. I recommend deet. Lots and lots of bees. We had no problems, but bring an Epipen if you are at all allergic. Most our issues with the trail should be solved when crews go in to bushwhack and tidy up, but this is an ongoing problem with the trail. I really hope it doesn't fade away, the trail itself is a wonderful way to access the High Divide and offers true solitude. Please hike this trail and don't let it disappear! Berries are plentiful right now, including the most awesome blackcaps. Yum!

 
Link to photo slideshow:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/573733552DHZXeD